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@uiten ,tutes jhstwt @fitta Letters Patent No. 76,268, dated Men-eh Y31, 1868.

IMPRGVEMENT Turismus.

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TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, WAGER SWAYNE, of the United States Army, have invented 4certain Improvements in Hot-Air-Engine Pistons; and I do hereby declare that the following, taken in connection withthe drawings which accompany and form part of' this specication, is a description of my'invention suihcient to enable those skilled in the art to practise it... i

l In caloric or hot-air engines much ditliculty is experienced with their pistons and'cylinders,'c0nsequent upon thefriction between said parts. The dry heat of the motor evaporates and chars oil o'r other greasy material applied for lubrication; hence hot-air engines have usually been constructed with singlefacting upright cylinders, open at the top, andthe pistons have been made as long plungers, packed at the t'op,'generally with a cupped leather packing, the bodies of such long pistons being iilled with some slow conductor of heat, so as, in a measure, to insulate the `piston-packings from the high temperatures tovwhich the bottoms of such pistons are subjected.' It is, however, an object to make use of doubtlevacting cylinders and higher temperatures, the latter involving high-pressures. With rdouble-acting cylinders, the heat and pressure come alternately against both ends of the piston; hence recourse must ybe had to some means for reducing the temperature of the cylinder and piston, and for lubricating the frictio'nal surfaces of both with material which will not leave a residuum.

My invention consists in such a construction of a piston for use in the cylinders of hot-air engines as will Aautomatically discharge an vannular lm or stream of water upon the surface Yof the cylinder, and in double-` acting cylinders upon either side ofthe piston alternately, on the exhaust side ofthe piston, at each movement thereof. This operates to reduce the temperature of the piston and cylinder, the water absorbing the heat therefrom, and conducting it off through the exhaust-passages with the exhaust-current of hot air, gases, and steam evolved from the Water, the Water serving also to cleanse the cylinder, at each stroke of the piston, from l any of the products of combustion that may he deposited'therein. The drawing shows, in

Figurel, a sectional elevation of a horizontal double-acting cylinder, containing a piston constructed so as to embody my invention, and to operate as before set forth.

l Figures 2 and 3 are sectional elevations of modied forms of my improved piston, so constructed as to have the same mode of operation as that shown in fig. 1.

The cylinder is provided with inlet-passages a a and exhaust-passages b', through which the motor enters andescnpes, the times of eachentrance and egress being controlled by suitable Valves, not shown, as they and the means by which they are operated form no :part of my presentinvention. The pistonerod e is made tubular, and at d, or wherever convenient, is'a nipple, to'which a jointed tube or a exible hose is to heV attached, to conduct the supply of water which is to be discharged through the piston, as before described. In iig. l, the body of the piston is made up of a central part, e, and two heads,`j'vf, arrangedas shown, so as to receive and retain the annular valves g g', which are so fitted as to have, under the forces brought t0 bear upon them, a slight range ct' motion in the direction ofthe axis of the cylinder. The water enters the piston under a head or pressure suiiicient to move outward the valve g or y', which is on the exhaust side of the piston, thus overcoming any back pressure which tends to keep the water-valve on its seat.

Suppose the motor liowin'g through inlet a, with inlet a and outlet Z1 closed, and outlet b open, then the pressure of the motor, which is superior to the pressure of the water in the piston, will close the valve g, and the pressure of the water in the piston, which is greater than the back pressure in the cylinder on the lexhaust side of the piston, will open valve g', so that, as the piston moves toward a and bl, the water, iiowing through the pistone-od and head, will force valve g o' from its seat in the piston-head, and will keep it off therefrom till inici a opens, and the valves contro-lling the other inlet and outlets change their position. Whilevalve g is oit from its seat, as shown in iig. l, there is an annular opening all around the piston, through which water escapes 'lo lubricnte and. cool the cylinder through one stroke of the piston, which is also kept cool by the cir culaton of water through it. When inlet a and outlet b open, and inlet a and outlet Z1 close, then thesuperior pressure 'of the motor overcomes the pressure of the water ou valve g', which consequently closes, and as the pressure of the water within the piston on valve g is superior to the back pressure" against said valve, it opens, so that .during the return stroke of' the piston toward a and b, the cylinder is lubricated and cooled by the waiter Vwhich escapesl from the piston past valve g. v

In single-acting cylinders, a piston having hut one water-valve, operating ns described, may be employed. In g. 2, the water-passages in the piston-head are varied slightly from those shown in Iig. 1. In fig. 3, the piston-head is made in two parts, enclosing a ring, which acts as a double valve, discharging water first on one side and then on the other of the piston, but always on the exhaust side. I

In all the gures, the mode of'operation of' the piston `sind of the water-current is precisely the same,l

and the drawings show the construction and its modification so clearly as to render' unnecessary any further description.

I claima piston, constructed substantially as described, so as to operate automatically, during nearly the lwho-le movement of the piston by its motor, to discharge water against the inner surface ofthe cylinder on the exhaust side of the piston, for thepurposes specified.

WAGER SIWAYNE.

Witnesses;

J. B. CROSBY, JOHN J. HALSTED. 

